You knew the night where Phish dug deep into their songbook was coming and that night was tonight. Phish returned to Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien, NY for their fifth performance at the venue, which sits adjacent to an amusement park, and delivered many tour debuts.
[Photo via Kristy Freeman]
Friend of HT Kristy Freeman has always been a huge fan of Phish’s version of Nellie Kane by Hot Rize and she took matters into her own hands to get the band to play the song. She enlisted the help of about a dozen friends who all held creatively decorated signs with Nellie Kane on them. Kristy’s plan worked as Phish opened with Nellie Kane to her delight. Nellie Kane wasn’t the only relatively rare song on tap for Darien’s first set. Mellow Mood, Buffalo Bill, Undermind, Ride Captain Ride, It’s Ice, Dog Faced Boy and Brian and Robert all saw their first action of 2011 in the 14-song marathon opening stanza.
Since debuting their cover of TV on the Radio’s Golden Age in Albany back in 2009, the song has become a fan-favorite and a highly requested cover in the band’s arsenal. Golden Age returned to a Phish stage last October and once again tonight as the second set opener. Online Phish Tour’s Guy Forget noted Trey Anastasio’s “huge soaring guitar lines” that led into an “oozing gooey funk jam.” However, the Golden Age jam was short lived and went into a Mike’s Groove that contained Fast Enough For You in the middle of Mike’s and Weekpaug for the first time. What’s The Use? marked the 11th and final 2011 debut of the night and was teased later in 2001. Good Times, Bad Times was the encore once again following a closing sequence of Theme From The Bottom, Backwards Down The Number Line, 2001 and Harry Hood.
READ ON for tonight’s setlist and The Skinny…
HT faves Phish will set out on a 18-date tour starting with a three-night run at Bethel Woods in Bethel, NY over Memorial Day Weekend and concluding three weeks later at the nTelos Pavilion in Portsmouth, VA on June 19. This marks Phish’s first tour of 2011 after ending 2010 and starting 2011 at Madison Square Garden.
Phish Summer Tour 2011 takes the group back to a number of familiar venues from the past two summers including the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA; the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ; the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatres in Charlotte, NC and Alpharetta, GA as well as the Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion in Raleigh, NC.
A pre-order lottery for tickets to every show on the band’s docket has started via Music Today and you can put your entry in through March 4. Summer Tour 2011 marks the first time Phish has offered different prices for pavilion seats and for lawn seats at these summer sheds. While face for lawns is $45, pavilion seats will go for $60. The public onsales are set to take place on March 11 and 12.
Here’s a look at the full itinerary…
May 27 – 29 = Bethel Woods, Bethel NY
May 31 & June 1 = PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
June 3 = DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston MI
June 4 = Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls OH
June 5 = Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati OH
June 7 = Comcast Center, Mansfield MA
June 8 = Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, Darien NY
June 10 = Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden NJ
June 11 and 12 = Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia MD
June 14 and 15 = Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Alpharetta GA
June 17 = Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Charlotte NC
June 18 = Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion, Raleigh NC
June 19 = nTelos Pavilion, Portsmouth VA
UPDATE: Phish’s Vimeo video page has been updated to read, “Additional summer announcements will be coming. Following the summer, the band has no touring plans for the remainder of the year.”
READ ON for a more in-depth look at each venue…
